About me

This blogname was derived from the novel The Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist by the Palestinian Israeli Emile Habiby: absurdism as weapon against the (ir)realities of daily life in Palestine/Israel. (The subtitle is from a book by Dutch author Renate Rubinstein. It could as well be my motto).
My real name is Martin (Maarten Jan) Hijmans. I've been covering the ME since 1977 and have been a correspondent in Cairo. I started my 'Abu Pessoptimist' blog in January 2009 out of anger during the onslaught in Gaza. The other one, The Pessoptmist, is meant to be a sister version in English. (En voor de Nederlandstaligen: ik wilde in november 2009 een tweede blog in het Engels beginnen en ontdekte te laat dat als je één account hebt, een profiel dan meteen ook voor allebei de blogs geldt. Vandaar dat het nu ineens in het Engels is... So sorry.)

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

At least 25 killed in attack on Iranian embassy in Beirut

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside the Iranian embassy in
Beirut's southern suburbs Tuesday morning, killing at least 25 people
and wounding about 150, in a brazen attack claimed by an al-Qaeda-linked group.Al Mayadeen TV said that security cameras showed the first suicide
bomber charge the embassy on a motorcycle and blow himself up to clear
the way for a second bomber, who detonated a car packed with explosives.
Iran's ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi told the
Beirut-based station that no one was killed inside the embassy, located
in the densely populated neighborhood of Bir Hassan. But he later announced that Iran's cultural attaché, Sheikh
Ibrahim al-Ansari, who was on his way to work, was killed in the attack. All other victims appeared
to be passers-by. Security sources said among the 25 victims were also an Iranian civilian and a
Lebanese who was employed at the embassy. Five Iranians, including embassy guards and a nurse were wounded
in the bombings, according to the sources who spoke to The Daily Star
on condition of anonymity.TV Footage showed several corpses strewn across the ground, some of them on fire, at the site of the explosions. An Al-Akhbar photographer said he witnessed charred bodies trapped inside burning vehicles.
Sirajeddin Zreikat, a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam
Brigades, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings on Twitter and
threatened further attacks.
He wrote that his group "will continue operations in Lebanon" as long
as Hezbollah forces remain in Syria, and demanded that Lebanon release
all prisoners affiliated with the Salafi movement.